


Sophie and her Childhood Bully

by SpicySnowflake



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bully, Character Growth, Not everything is black and white
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:00:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26305270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicySnowflake/pseuds/SpicySnowflake
Summary: Her childhood bully is a bad person.Her best friend is the kindest person she knows.Those are just simple facts in Sophie's eyes. But having had to spend time with her bully from elementary school, her perspective began to change.
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Female Character, Original Female Character & Original Male Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Sophie and her Childhood Bully

When I was seven years old. I used to be bullied by this boy named Butch. He was so mean. He would make fun of me and get all the other boys to laugh along. He would pull my hair, and chase me around with bugs. One time, it got so bad I started bawling. I think it surprised him, because I didn’t hear him making fun of me for it. Though maybe I was just too caught up in my crying to take notice if he did. 

That’s also when I met Robin. She is the sweetest and kindest girl I know. She came up to me and offered me a handkerchief. “He’s really mean, isn’t he?” she said. I couldn’t even answer back because I was too busy sobbing. “Don’t mind him. I’ll be here for you! You’re Sophie right?” I nodded, and she smiled. “It's nice to meet you. I’m Robin. Let’s be friends!”

Butch never bothered me after that day. 

(.....)

Walking down the halls of my high school, I saw Butch roughly push a guy, making him fall to the floor. Then, Butch glared at the guy and walked away. Feeling sorry for the guy, I decided to walk over to him and help him up. He gave me a timid thank you, before scurrying on his way. 

I felt anger bubble up inside me. Butch never really changed. He was much more quiet and kept more to himself. Not as loud and obnoxious as he used to be when we were kids. But he's just as much of a bully as he’s always been. He's a terrible person who didn’t care at all about how much he hurt those around him.

Why did he have to be such a hateful person?

(.....)

Butch and I were paired for a project. I couldn’t believe it. Out of all the classmates I could have gotten as a partner, the teacher had to pair me up with him. With a sigh, I got up from my seat and asked him to meet me in the library after school. Surprisingly, he easily agreed without any objections. 

Once school was done for the day, I headed for the library, half expecting him to not show up. He surprised me again though, because he was already there when I came in. Deciding not to question his strange compliance, I sat down in front of him, and began discussing our project. 

It had gotten pretty late by the time our discussion and planning for the project was over. Then, he offered to walk me home. No, he told me he was going to walk me home. I didn’t even have a choice on the matter.

That was the most awkward walk home I had ever experienced. 

(.....)

Feeling extremely stressed about the whole thing, I decided to call Robin, my long-time best friend. I told her what had happened with Butch. Her immediate response was that she was heading over. She didn’t live far away from my own home, but still, it was incredibly kind of her to do such a thing. She really was a saint.

When Robin arrived at my house, the first thing she did was hug me. I always appreciated that about her, she always knew what to do in any situation. Then, she asked me to tell her any details I may have missed about my situation, as she began to prepare some food for us. 

She sympathized with my plight, but scolded me for allowing him to walk me home. “Now he knows where you live, dummy.” she said. Then she warned me to be careful, advising me to try to finish the project as soon as possible, so that I didn’t have to associate with him longer than necessary. I agreed with her wholeheartedly.

(.....)

The project was finally finished and submitted. I was glad. I didn’t have anything to do with Butch anymore. At least, I thought so until he decided to come up to me after class. 

“Hey, do you wanna head out for some pizza later. My treat.” he said, as if we were friends or something.

That stopped me in my tracks, and I gave him a look that hopefully conveyed how odd I found his offer to be. “What?”

“Or something else? You ended up doing most of the project. I gotta thank you somehow.” he gave me what I think was supposed to be a friendly smile. 

That was weird. Really weird. I didn’t understand why he was being so friendly with me, I didn’t really care to find out. I just wanted to get out of the situation. I simply gave him a curt “No thanks.” and then went on my way. 

(.....)

I didn’t see Butch again until I found him bullying the same boy he pushed to the floor. He had the boy by the collar and pinned him to a wall. Butch looked so angry that I felt pretty scared at that moment, even though it wasn’t directed anywhere near me. However, that boy was in trouble and I felt I had to do something. 

So I walked over to them and told Butch to let go of him. Then, he told me “Stay out of this, Sophie. I have to teach this guy a lesson.” 

“You need to stop this! He has done nothing wrong!” I cried.

“The hell he didn’t! He’s a creep who needs to stop bothering my sister!” Butch growled.

“What?! He is not a creep! Stop being such a bully!”

I tried to pry his hands off of the boy’s collar. Butch decided to let go on his own, and the boy scurried off. Butch continued to glare at him. Then he turned his gaze on me. “You have no idea what happened or what he did. What right do you have to just assume I’m the bad guy here?”

I scoffed “You’ve always been “the bad guy” here. You’ve always been a bully, and that boy-”

He cut me off “People aren’t just good or bad, you know! Everyone has good and bad sides to them. Just like how that wimpy looking guy is a creep! And just like that stuck up friend of yours. What’s her name - Robin?”

“What? Robin is the best person I know! Don’t you dare insult her!” I clenched my fists and glared at him. How dare he bring Robin into this?

“She’s not as perfect as you think she is, and if you stopped and looked for a second, you’ll realize that.”

(.....)

Robin and I were sitting face to face in the cafeteria, eating our lunch. Ones that Robin had prepared for the both of us. She was talking to me about her schedule and current plans. The school year was almost over, and aside from taking all nighters to finish all our homeworks and study for final exams, we were also trying to plan for our vacation. Robin already had a plan laid out. 

As I was listening to her, I spotted Butch eating his lunch by himself. This came as a bit of a surprise to me. I knew he was a bully and an all around terrible person, but I still expected him to have at least some friends to eat lunch with. 

“-ey, Sophie.” I immediately turned my attention back to my best friend. She looked displeased. “Were you listening to me?”

“Yes! Sorry!” I said, sheepishly.

Robin sighed in mock exasperation “You really need to stop spacing out so much. Now, listen-”

(.....)

Robin had invited me to her house. This rarely happened so I was pretty excited. She was usually the one to come to my house. She led me to the living room and told me to stay there while she went to get something. Looking around, the room was neat and orderly. It was also very spacious. Just like it always was the few times that I visited, nothing was out of place. 

Suddenly, Robin’s little brother was right next to me. I jumped a little in surprise, I didn't even notice he was in the room. Then he began bombarding me with questions. There were so many spewing out of his mouth and I couldn’t quite understand any of them. 

“Hey, don’t bother her! What do you think you’re doing?” Robin told her brother as soon as she stepped back into the living room, looking at him disapprovingly. 

“I was just asking her some questions.” He replied with a shrug.

Robin crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look “You should be studying right now.”

“What? But it's summer!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

“And your grades are awful. If you wanted to spend your summer the way you wanted to, you should have thought about that before deciding to slack off.”

“Oh come on! I tried my best! And my grades are fine!”

“No it isn’t, now go to your room and study.”

“But-”

“Or I’ll tell mom that that lazer tag you convinced her to take you next week, isn’t such a good idea after all.”

“What?! But I’ve been planning that with my friends for months!”

“Then go to your room and study!”

Robin’s brother yelled in frustration before stomping out of the room. That whole argument I just witnessed between Robin and her brother left me feeling really uncomfortable. I don’t have any siblings, but that seemed really...unwarranted. 

“Hey, Robin. Don’t you think that was a little...unfair?” I asked her. “He’s only ten.”

Robin looked at me, a little puzzled. She thought it over for a while, then said “I don’t see what’s unfair.” Then she brushed it off and gave me a warm smile. A smile that I always believed showed just how kindhearted she was. She began to talk to me about something, but I could barely pay attention to her words. I remembered what Butch once told me.

_“She’s not as perfect as you think she is, and if you stopped and looked for a second, you’ll realize that.”_

It wasn’t even anything big, and perhaps I just didn’t understand how a sibling dynamic goes, since I didn’t have any of my own. 

_“Everyone has good and bad sides to them.”_

Still, I couldn’t help but think that maybe, what Butch said had some merit.

(.....)

Since that day I witnessed that uncomfortable fight Robin had with her brother, I began to see her words and actions differently than I had before. I realized that her behavior towards her brother extended to everyone, including me. Thinking back, she always did scold me for anything she deemed foolish. I just never saw it that way before. She is still kind and gentle, and I believe she genuinely tries to be a good person, and a good friend.

She just wasn’t perfect. And that’s okay. 

(.....)

Butch was sitting alone on a bench, in the park I had decided to take a stroll in. Seeing him stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t know what to do, because having finally figured out that Robin wasn’t as perfectly good as I once thought, also meant that Butch wasn’t as much of a bad person as I once thought. 

I didn’t know if he actually was still a bully, or if he really was only trying to protect his sister from that boy. I do know that he tried to be nice to me, and I snubbed him. 

Seeing him on that bench made me want to run away and hide, but I knew I had to go apologize. I treated him unfairly because I was so convinced that my childhood bully was just as bad and mean spirited as I remembered him to be. 

Gathering up my nerves, I walked over to him. Perhaps he still wasn’t a good person, but maybe he was much better than I wanted to believe he was. 

Either way, I felt I owed it to him to try to get to know him first. If he’d still let me.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it ^-^


End file.
